It was still raining, but it was a beautiful day. He’d woken early and gazed at Ellen’s brown hair across her pillow, shifting as she breathed in her sleep. And then he’d kissed her forehead and risen to go check the schedule in the morning paper for trains to Oxford. There were several leaving from Paddington Station each day. Perfect for a visit with Professor Duncap.
His mind moved on. Ellen was growing sicker. Mark worried each time she threw up the contents of her stomach, but last night she promised him the sickness usually meant a strong and healthy pregnancy. It made no sense to Mark, but he trusted her word.
As if summoned by his thoughts, the door swung open and Ellen walked in. “Good morning.”
Mark beamed, setting her plate on the table. “Eggs, bacon, andporridge. Because you begged Cook for it.” He wrinkled his nose. “Are you going to be asking for increasingly odd foods for the foreseeable future?”
She didn’t answer, which, honestly, he hadn’t expected her to, and walked to him as he sat in his chair. Ellen ran a hand up hisarm, across his shoulder, and cupped the back of his neck. “You seem terribly happy for a man who spent the last evening receiving no pleasure of his own.” Her fingers toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck.
A tender feeling rushed through him, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, tugging her close. “I still enjoyed myself.”
“Should I do something to make up for it?”
Mark buried his smile in the front of her dress. “If you insist.”
“After breakfast.” Ellen kissed the top of his head, then eased away to sit beside him. She took a bite of bacon, gagged, and quickly washed the bite down with milk.
Mark frowned, taking an empty bowl from the side table, and set it in front of her, trying to ignore how pale she’d gone. “Just in case.” He kissed the top of her head. “Want me to stay close to hold your hair?”
She closed her eyes, then shook her head. “No, I’m well. Please sit and eat.”
About halfway through breakfast Gaye stepped in with mail. “Your letters from yesterday, madam.” He gave an arthritic bow.
Ellen pulled two off the silver tray. One was a regular thickness, the other wide and broad with a postmark from France. She took the letter opener and sliced the first one while swallowing a bite of porridge.
Mark glanced at the next page of the newspaper. Everything was pleasantly silent between them. How could he have possibly lived this long without her? Glancing up, Mark smiled at her.
Ellen was gripping the letter with white knuckles, and her face had gone pale.
“Is there bad news?” Mark asked, reaching out to touch her hand.
She jerked out of reach and glared up at him. “Of a sort.”
Mark looked between her face and the letter still in her hands. “I don’t understand.”
Ellen read aloud. “Dearest Ellen, I am overjoyed to learn you and Mark have reconciled. My son can be obtuse and overlyprivate, but he has a heart of gold beneath it all. I know he felt a deep concern for you, for both of you, when the family realized the duty to provide heirs to the title now fell to him. I hope, however, that joy will come to you both, and soon the Cottesloe nursery will be filled with a dozen little Glenfalls.” Ellen looked up, eyes as hard as stone. “She goes on about what spring shall be like at Cottesloe and how your brothers are doing.”
Mark’s mouth dried. His egg-laden fork hovered mid-air, his arms frozen.
“You told me you came back to let me know you were the heir, and one day I might be a baroness.” Ellen carefully laid the letter down on the table, then folded her arms across her chest and stared. “That’s all.”
“Yes, that’s true.” Mark scrambled for an explanation. “I, uh…”
“I told you I didn’t want more children.” Her face went pale again.
“Yes, you did.” Guilt crept in.
“Mark! You lied to me.” Her lips pressed into a firm, thin line.
“I didn’t lie!”
“You didn’t tell all of the truth about one of the most important things between us. IsaidI didn’t want to risk having more children. And you slept with me anyway.”
“That’s why I didn’t bring it up!” Mark knew he sounded guilty, desperate, but it was true. He’d never,everwanted to force any of this on her. That’s why he’d dropped the matter completely. “You were so against it, I put it aside.”
“Put aside your duty to a three-hundred-year-old barony? Your duty to your parents and your older brother?” Ellen gave a hard laugh. “Please. You don’t put duty aside so easily—except when it comes to leaving our marriage.”
“No, I don’t,” Mark agreed. His knee banged the underside of the table, causing him to wince. He hadn’t known he was even tapping his foot. “But I did, because ofyou, Ellen. You’re moreimportant. Everything,everythingI’ve done since returning has been for you.”Please believe me.